


Practice Makes Perfect

by domo (aroceu)



Series: Generosity [11]
Category: SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-10
Updated: 2010-12-10
Packaged: 2017-10-28 07:26:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/305330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aroceu/pseuds/domo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taemin might not have liked soccer too much, but he definitely liked Jonghyun a lot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Practice Makes Perfect

**Author's Note:**

> For Mollie

Minho was trying to persuade him to join the soccer team when he first met him, and they were walking to soccer practice. Taemin was actually not quite sure when he had agreed to coming to practice with him-- Minho always had a sneaky way of getting what he wanted, and Taemin usually fell for his tricks--regardless, that was not the point.

What  _was_  the point, however, was that when Taemin had been following Minho, with his eyes fixed on his shoes as he did his best to keep up with everything that the older boy was saying, was that he had accidentally run into another boy on the field. Thinking nothing of it, Taemin didn't even bother glancing up as he quickly muttered a, "Sorry," to the person he had bumped into.

He hadn't expected much of a response, if one at all; instead, he heard a voice say, "Just watch where you're going next time." Rather surprised at this, Taemin looked up to see that a short boy, though he was probably older (most students were older than Taemin, at least), looking at him expectantly.

Rather surprised at this sort of reaction, Taemin stuttered,

"Uh-- Ah-- Uh-- Sorry! I mean." He quickly turned pink and glanced down. "I will next time!"

And further embarrassing himself, he bowed ninety degrees and made to go away, jogging to catch up with Minho. They walked to the soccer practice together, and Taemin just denied all the questions Minho asked him about the boy even though it seemed like the boy would not leave his mind.

They made it to the field and Taemin sat on the bleachers, as Minho ran over to play with his team. When the game started, Taemin watched along with as much interest as he could, though he was faintly certain that there was a familiar voice behind him that was cheering loudly for the opposing team.

\--

When the game was over, Taemin ran over to Minho to congratulate him for winning. Not far away, a loud (and same familiar) voice was swearing at some other player on the other team.

"You did really well!" Taemin said enthusiastically, patting his friend on the back.

Minho gave him a small smile. "You think?" he asked. "Yeah, I guess I didn't do too badly either. Oh!" He reached out to the arm of a boy who had been passing by, congratulating all the players. The boy stopped at Minho's touch.

Taemin watched as Minho pulled the boy over. The boy had smiley eyes and a large grin on his face. 

"This is Jinki-hyung," Minho introduced. "He's the team leader and he's a senior, but it's like he's one of us!"

"Oh, don't say that!" Jinki said, shoving Minho's shoulder lightly. Minho laughed, and Taemin couldn't help letting out a chuckle.

All of a sudden, a boy split the three of them apart--Taemin noted that it was the same boy who he had run into earlier, and also the boy who had been cheering loudly (for the opposite team, of course.) "Hey, do either of you guys happen to have a water bottle?" he asked them. "Kibum's an idiot and  _totally_  forgot his own, and now he's dying of thirst--"

"Here, he can have mine." Jinki held out his own to the boy.

The boy smiled gratefully. "Thanks," he said, and then walked away.

Jinki and Minho continued talking, as if they hadn't been interrupted. But Taemin couldn't help remembering the way the boy's eyes had twinkled, and the softness of his dark, dark hair.

\--

Taemin was running late, and he knew it; he usually wasn't the type to be running late, but after his alarm hadn't gone off this morning (or was he just too tired last night?), he had been asleep until it was ten minutes after he was supposed to have left the house already. In a rush, he quickly threw some clothes on, grabbed a piece of bread for breakfast, said good-bye to his mother like the good son he was, and then ran out the door, down the streets and towards the school building.

He wasn't paying too much attention when he ran up the steps, and it was only when he heard a, "Hey! Hey! HEY! I THINK YOU DROPPED YOUR BOOKS!" when he decided to stop, halfway down the hallway of the entrance of the school.

Taemin spun around. There, standing in the middle of the front courtyard, was Jinki, Minho's soccer captain. Smiling slightly, and embarrassed, Taemin ran over to him, and took the book that he had accidentally dropped.

"Thanks," he said, shoving it into his backpack. Jinki smiled at him (was there ever a time when he  _wasn't_  smiling?)

"No problem," Jinki told him. "Hey! You're Minho's friend, right? That freshman who was at our game a few days ago?"

Taemin nodded slightly. "Yeah. But soccer's not really my thing, and that was the first game I had ever been to..."

"Oh, but maybe you'll like soccer!" Jinki said enthusiastically. "You should come to our next game! Come with Minho! It's this Saturday, at seven. Are you up for it?"

Taemin wasn't quite sure if he had nodded his head in approval or something, but at that moment, Jinki clapped him on the back and said, "Great, well see you there! I have to get to class now! Bye!"

He sprinted down the hallway, and Taemin stood there, wondering if his hyung had ADD or something. But then the bell rang, and Taemin swore--he was still late to class.

\--

Anyways, he went to the soccer game that Saturday, anyways. He had been in the hopes of seeing the boy from the other school again, but their soccer team played against another school, so he didn't succeed. Taemin didn't really quite understand the point of soccer--but hey, at least he tried?

On the bus ride back to his apartment, Taemin rested his head against his arm tiredly. It hadn't been much of a day, but suddenly he was exhausted; he wasn't quite sure how he managed to still be awake. He was about to fall asleep right then and there, standing up in the middle of a public bus--when suddenly he felt a nudge on his back.

He passed it off as an accident at first, but when he was nudged again, this time more defined, he turned around, to see that the boy from the soccer game before was standing behind him, a smile on his face.

"Hey," he said to him. "You're that kid from that other school, right? The one who totally kicked our asses in soccer?"

Taemin chuckled weakly and nodded. "Yeah," he replied, suppressing a slight yawn.

"Cool. I'm Jonghyun." Jonghyun stuck his hand out to shake.

"Taemin." Taemin took his hand, and found that it was rough but warm, and Taemin liked it.

"Are you a senior?" Jonghyun furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Taemin funnily. "You don't seem like it."

"What gave you that idea?" Taemin couldn't help giggling. "No, I'm a freshman, though everyone on the soccer team is mostly a junior or a senior. Like my friend, Minho. He's a junior."

"Ah." Jonghyun nodded in understanding. "I get it. My friend's a junior too, and he's on the soccer team. I'm not on it, because I don't like it that much--but the games are fun, anyways."

"Yeah, I guess." All of a sudden, Taemin could understand the appeal of soccer games. Or was it just the appeal of this boy in front of him? (No, it can't be.)

"Well anyways." Jonghyun started moving as the bus lurched to a stop. "This is me. But I guess I'll see you around?"

Taemin nodded, perhaps a little too furiously, and Jonghyun smiled. Once Jonghyun had left, Taemin somehow found himself with more energy than he had before.

\--

Through lots (and lots) of online stalking, Taemin managed to find out what school Jonghyun went to, and a bit more. He found that Jonghyun had won quite a few awards in his school for singing contests--so even though he didn't have the passion for sports that their friends had, he had a passion for music. And so did Taemin.

He didn't bother to going to any more soccer games for quite a while (at least, two weeks felt like quite a while for Taemin), until Minho was talking about the next soccer games that were coming up. Taemin's ears perked up at the name of the school he knew Jonghyun went to, and he suddenly blurted, "Wait, when's that game?"

Minho stopped and looked at him strangely. "What are you talking about?" he said.

"That- That- You said that you had a game against one of those schools coming up?" Taemin asked. He didn't want to seem like a stalker, but he  _had_  to know when it was.

Minho frowned. "Yeah?"

"When is it?" Taemin didn't want to seem to eager, though he was probably bad at hiding it, because Minho's frown deepened at this.

"This weekend, why?" he asked. "What, did you run into some girl from that school?--oh wait, it's an all-boys school. Did you run into a  _boy_ ?" Suddenly interested, Minho grinned at the younger boy.

Taemin blushed rapidly and shook his head. "No, no, no!" he said quickly, though in his mind he was thinking,  _Jonghyun, Jonghyun, Jonghyun._

\--

The week seemed to drag on, until it was finally the weekend. Taemin took the usual route he did to go to the soccer games, on the bus, and also with the hopes of running into Jonghyun on the bus again--though, to his disappointment, he didn't. Still, the thought of seeing him at the soccer game again filled him with enough happiness that his spirits weren't too dampened at this.

Minho greeted him once he arrived, though Taemin waved it aside a little bit. He glanced to the bleachers, scanning the crowd for Jonghyun. Not him, not him, not him... maybe he's at the end? Taemin's eyes went to the very end of the bleachers, but the space where Jonghyun had been sitting at before was occupied by someone else. Frowning, and disappointed, Taemin made his way over, upset that Jonghyun hadn't showed up.

He watched the game with mild interest. Maybe he had gotten the date or the game wrong? Maybe he hadn't heard the right school that Minho had mentioned? But it must've been the right school; the guy that Jonghyun had been talking to the second time he had seen him was out on the field, swearing loudly at a bunch of the other players, and then was pulled aside by the referee and was cursing at him too. So this  _was_  the right school. But where was Jonghyun?

Maybe he had just decided not to come to the game. He did say that he didn't like soccer, right? Though, he had mentioned that he liked watching it. Maybe he was sick? Maybe there were problems at home? Maybe he had other priorities? Maybe... maybe... Taemin couldn't think of any other reasons. Sighing, he slumped over in his seat, resting his chin on his palm, with his happiness deflated and good mood gone.

And then,

"Is this seat reserved for me?"

Taemin looked up at the sound of the familiar (and wonderful) voice, to see Jonghyun smiling at him. Jonghyun was wearing a red shirt, with a black jacket draped over his shoulder, and he was slightly pink in the face. Taemin also noticed that he seemed to be out of breath.

"Sorry," he said to Taemin. "I was running late, and didn't think that I would make it. But then I saw you here, and then I realized that I did."

Taemin had no idea what this meant. But he smiled back at Jonghyun, and said, "Yes, this seat is yours." When Jonghyun sat down, their arms brushed, and their hands overlapped. And Taemin didn't mind at all.

He might not have liked soccer too much, but he definitely liked Jonghyun a lot.

\--

Out on the field, Minho and Jinki were watching the two boys on the bleachers, perhaps sitting a bit closer than what would be considered normal. Minho chuckled.

"So that's why he wanted to come to this game so badly," he said to his hyung.

Jinki, from beside him, laughed as well. "They're so cute together, don't you think, Minho?" he asked him.

Minho turned to him and nodded. "Most definitely."


End file.
